Lovely Scribbles: A Picnic in the Porch...and Other Anniversary Ideas

Well, hello there! So...I have this terrible habit these days of taking loads and loads of photos and never really doing anything with them. BUT, I thought these pics might be fun to share with you all.

You see, while it's been 10+ years since my hubby and I first began dating, last Friday was our 4th wedding anniversary. I told my husband that I would plan something this year and that he could do the planning next year. The unfortunate problem was that I had no clue what to do.

I kept calling my husband at work whining, "I have no idea what we should do for our anniversary."

Since guys (okay, most guys, my husband included) could care less about planning some big, exciting event, I was dead set on planning something...anything. Just for kicks. To be honest, I don't get too bent out of shape about these things, but I do like a good challenge every now and then.

The problem was that I had zero ideas. ZERO, I tell you! (Part of my brain left me when I became pregnant, and I have yet to find it.)

UNTIL...

Two days before my anniversary, it hit me. Being a working mom and not seeing my sweet baby girl as much as I'd like to, getting a babysitter was out of the question for me. However, I decided that we could still do something special right at home...

...And it started with a treasure hunt. Yes, indeed, I planned a treasure hunt for my beloved, with little gifts to go along with each clue. I hid clues all over inside the house and outside in our backyard, too.

I felt all clever and stuff, as if no one in the whole wide world had ever planned a treasure hunt before me. Hehe.

My husband looked at the clue below, and read it over and over again and said, "Where is this?" To which I coyly smiled and responded with, "Babe, think about it. We only have one picture on the wall." (We still haven't hung our ridiculous amount of framed art, except for one lonely picture). I LOVE that he played along, though. :)

Oh, and these envelopes you see with the months printed on them, well, that idea I snagged from this lady over here. I had no idea what her blog was before I stumbled upon her on Pinterest, but she's got some fab-u-lous ideas. The idea is to create an envelope with a date card and plans for each month. Being the rockstar that she is, this particular gal even purchased gift cards and all that jazz ahead of time for the date envelope gift for every month of the year.

I'm exhausted just thinking about it. As for me, I printed out date cards yet to be filled out in empty envelopes. Sorry, honey, I tried!

Date card:

I did, however, manage to get him some good gifts from gift cards to socks because what guy doesn't burn through socks? He commented that the socks were his favorite gift, by the way.

The final clue in the treasure hunt lead to a surprise picnic in our "almost finished" porch/sunroom-thing. I tried to make things fun, and yet keep it SIMPLE. Here's a little look-see at our anniversary picnic. Disclaimer: we need new flooring, so pleeeeeeeeeeease don't look too close! Now you went and had a close look, didn't you? You stinkers!

The super cool picnic basket I quite literally stumbled upon at TJ Maxx the night before our anniversary, so, of course, I had to buy it.

Looking for your own picnic basket? Here are a few ideas to suit any tastes.

Plaid Chardonnay Basket with Wine Service for Two

Piccadilly Willow Picnic Basket

Terazzo Carrier for Four, Striped

Picnic Time Vino Wine and Cheese Basket for Two

The Couture Collection Willow Basket

Corsica Insulated Wine and Chese Basket

I also bought the absolute, yes, absolute most amazing cupcakes here in the Twin Cities from Sweet Retreat, which is conveniently and dangerously located across the street from my office.

Everything turned out so well, and my husband and I had a wonderful time laughing and just hanging out at our indoor picnic, all the while our sweet, little bean snoozed away.

Perfect. :)

Happy Anniversary, my love!